The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a method to smoothly execute data transmission and data processing between a plurality of objects according to consistency of the data type.
Through the spread of personal computers, application programs such as document processing, drawing processing, and table-calculation processing are widely used. In proportion to this use, an environment to execute data transmission between different application programs, or to mutually call the application program is arranged. For example, when inserting a drawing into a document, the drawing processing application is activated in the document processing application and the drawing is created. When inserting a table into a document, the table-calculation processing application is activated in the document processing application and the table is created. In an edited drawing or table, a predetermined application is registered as link information. Therefore, by activating the predetermined application automatically, editing is executed.
However, in case the drawing created by one image-processing application is inserted into a document and edited by another image-processing application, the following problem occurs. First, the format of the drawing processed by the image-processing application is limited. For example, assume that the format of the drawing processed by the image-processing application is bit map image format (xe2x80x9cxxx. bmpxe2x80x9d) or TIFF (Tag Image File Format) format (xe2x80x9cxxx. tifxe2x80x9d). However, assume that the drawing is already created in a different format (for example, xe2x80x9caaa. wmfxe2x80x9d) which is not compatible with above-format. In this case, if the drawing format xe2x80x9cwmfxe2x80x9d is not converted to the format xe2x80x9cbmpxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctifxe2x80x9d, the drawing is not edited by the image-processing application. In other words, if the user does not know an application to convert from a xe2x80x9cwmfxe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9cbmpxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctifxe2x80x9d format, the drawing format is not converted. Even if the conversion application exists in the computer, the user can not know which conversion program (xe2x80x9cbmpxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctifxe2x80x9d) has the resolution of the inserted drawing.
The same problem occurs in connection with home electric equipment. In case of AV (Audio Visual) equipment, each piece of equipment must be connected by a cable as one to one. Additionally, a predetermined connection interface is necessary. For example, in case of a connection to NTSC standard television, a video signal based on NTSC standard must be sent to a video input terminal and the equipment connectable to this video input terminal is limited to the NTSC standard video. However, various kinds of equipment such as video camera and PC except for the video have been recently used. In proportion to the various kinds of equipment, different video standard exists. For example, the normal output of PC is RGB (red, green, blue) which is different from the NTSC standard. Furthermore, various screen sizes are used as output (RGB) of a PC (Personal Computer) (In case of VGA, 640 (dot)xc3x97480 (dot) is used. In case of XVGA, 1600 (dot)xc3x971200 (dot) is used.). The number of color per one dot is different (from 256 colors to 1670 million full colors). Furthermore, a high-definition (HD) standard is adopted for television (A number of scan line of NTSC is 640xc3x97480 while a number of HD is 1125xc3x97960). Accordingly, if the video signal of HD is outputted through an NTSC TV screen, a down-converter to decrease the number of scan lines is necessary. Conversely, if the video signal of NTSC is outputted through a HD TV screen, an up-converter to increase the number of scan lines is necessary. In short, if the video signals of different video standard equipment is outputted through an NTSC standard TV screen, these equipment must be linked together. When inserting a medium converter, the equipment and the medium converter must be connected by cable in order. This is troublesome for the user.
In DVD on sale recently, in order to store a large quantity of data, the NTSC video signal is encoded by a standard xe2x80x9cMPEG 2xe2x80x9d and memorised. Therefore, in case of display, the encoded signal is decoded as an NTSC signal and outputted. The encoded standard xe2x80x9cMPEG 2xe2x80x9d is used when transmitting the video signal on a network. However, for example, if the video signal of MPEG 2 sent through the network is displayed by an xe2x80x9cWeb Browserxe2x80x9d application such as Netscape or Internet Explorer, the decode function of MPEG 2 is necessary in the PC. In this case, a fast decode function equipped in the DVD player is not used in the PC. Therefore, the user must buy a decoding application or a decoding board for installation in the PC.
As mentioned-above, in the prior computer, data transmission between different data type objects is not taken into account. In a predetermined application program, a file of the application format is only read or a file of another format is only read under several restrictions. Additionally, the convertion function must be previously prepared for each application, and the type of the conversion function is limited. Even if a plurality of application programs to interpret are installed in the PC, the data processed by each program are only connected by a single static link. In case of use of another application, this application program must be activated. In this way, in the prior apparatus, data processing of different data types is not smoothly executed between a plurality of application programs.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus and a method to smoothly execute the data processing between a plurality of applications according to consistency of the data type.
According to the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus connected to a plurality of application equipment, comprising: a memory means for storing, by unit of object corresponding to the application equipment, input data type applicable in each object and output data type supplied to other object; an indication means for indicating a first object as a serving side object and a second object as a receiving side object in a plurality of the objects; a retrieval means for retrieving a third object whose input data type is output data type of the first object and output data type is input data type of the second object from said memory means, if the output data type of the first object is different from the input data type of the second object; and a control means for assigning the third object between the first object and the second object as a relay object.
Further in accordance with the present invention, there is also provided an information processing apparatus connected to a plurality of application equipment, comprising: a memory means for storing, by unit of object corresponding to the application equipment, input data type applicable in each object and output data type supplied to other object; an indication means for indicating a first object as a serving side object in a plurality of the objects; a retrieval means for retrieving a second object whose input data type is output data type of the first object from said memory means; and a control means for assigning the second object after the first object as a relay object or a receiving side object.
Further in accordance with the present invention, there is also provided an information processing method in a computer connected to a plurality of application equipment, a memory in the computer stores, by unit of object corresponding to the application equipment, input data type applicable in each object, and output data type supplied to other object, comprising the steps of: indicating a first object as a serving side object and a second object as a receiving side object in a plurality of the objects; retrieving a third object whose input data type is output data type of the first object and output data type is input data type of the second object from said memory, if the output data type of the first object is different from the input data type of the second object; and assigning the third object between the first object and the second object as a relay object.
Further in accordance with the present invention, there is also provided an information processing method in a computer connected to a plurality of application equipment, a memory in the computer stores, by unit of object corresponding to the application equipment, input data type applicable in each object, and output data type supplied to other object, comprising the steps of: indicating a first object as a serving side object in a plurality of the objects; retrieving a second object whose input data type is output data type of the first object from said memory means; and assigning the second object after the first object as a relay object or a receiving side object.
Further in accordance with the present invention, there is also provided a computer readable memory containing computer readable instructions in a computer connected to a plurality of application equipment, comprising: an instruction means for causing a computer to store, by unit of object corresponding to the application equipment, the input data type applicable in each object and output data type supplied to the other object; an instruction means for causing a computer to indicate a first object as a serving side object and a second object as a receiving side object in a plurality of the objects; an instruction means for causing a computer to retrieve a third object whose input data type is output data type of the first object and output data type is input data type of the second object from said memory, if the output data type of the first object is different from the input data type of the second object; and an instruction means for causing a computer to assign the third object between the first object and the second object as a relay object.
Further in accordance with the present invention, there is also provided a computer readable memory containing computer readable instructions in a computer connected to a plurality of application equipment, comprising: an instruction means for causing a computer to store, by unit of object corresponding to the application equipment, the input data type applicable in each object and output data type supplied to other object; an instruction means for causing a computer to indicate a first object as a serving side object in a plurality of the objects; instruction means for causing a computer to retrieve a second object whose input data type is the output data type of the first object from said memory means; and an instruction means for causing a computer to assign the second object after the first object as a relay object or a receiving side object.